| The Herald |  |  |  |
| By Caesar Zvayi | ||
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in his book, ‘‘God is not a Christian'', narrates a hilarious story of a drunkard who could not comprehend the reality around him partly because of the befuddling brew he had partaken and partly because of poor understanding of his society and context.
The story, that was narrated by the now retired Anglican Archbishop during his visit to Birmingham, England in 1989, pertained to a guzzler who crossed the street and accosted a pedestrian, asking him, albeit on unsteady legs, "I shay, which ish the other shide of the shtreet?"
The pedestrian, somewhat nonplussed, replied, "That side, of course!" The drunk said, "Shtrange.
‘‘When I wash on that shide, they shaid it wash thish shide." Tutu goes on to say; the other side of the street depends on where we are. Our perspective differs with our context, the things that have helped to form us; and religion is one of the most potent of these formative influences. To this I would add the politics in the home, around us. It helps us determine how and what we comprehend of reality and how we operate in our own specific context.
I had a friend in real life. A college mate and a friend on facebook till a few weeks back when he unfriended me on political grounds. We related on everything else except politics. He is what I would call a political virgin, with a Polyanna way of looking at political developments. I, however, understood where he was coming from. His parents had been corroborators during the war, rooted for Muzorewa during Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and after 1980 joined every fly-by-night political party upto the MDC.
He grew up on a diet of transient politics, no grounding, no ideology and could go with the wind, wherever it took him. While I do not know much of MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai's upbringing and am quite reluctant to buy the glorified account in his "memoirs'', I can hazard a guess. His upbringing had a lot to do with how he turned out politically. That upbringing explains why he couldn't brave the liberation struggle like other youngsters his age. It defines him today.
Over the years, Tsvangirai has acted like Tutu's proverbial drunk who can't tell which side of the street he is walking on and has to depend on others for direction. And as the leaked US diplomatic cables recently revealed; he depends on others even for the words that come out of his mouth.
This week, however, the MDC-T leader - who has always had bad Octobers - did something commendable; dropping his insistence on having Roy Bennett, the ex-Rhodie security services man sworn in as deputy
minister for agriculture, mechanisation and irrigation development.
I hope the decision to drop Bennett, who the Rhodesian lobby in MDC-T considers their Great White Hope, signifies a new ethos in the way Tsvangirai approaches politics and national issues.
The liberation struggle that brought the democracy that enables the likes of Tsvangirai to partake in national politics today was largely fought over land and all that reposes on and in it.
Bennett and other members of the Rhodesian Security Services not only fought against that, but are guilty of murderous excesses as exemplified by the mass graves in and around Zimbabwe and the bones that continue to wail from Chibondo today.
How Tsvangirai continued insisting on nominating Bennett to oversee the agriculture portfolio at a time evidence of Rhodesian atrocities was being brought to the surface at Chibondo everyday just showed he did not know which side of the street he was on. He was out of step with national sensitivities.
What is more? The MDC-T is synonymous with a reversal of land reforms and Tsvangirai's insistence on having Bennett; an ex-commercial farmer in the agriculture ministry only served to reinforce that position. Just like his decision to choose the Dutch Embassy for refuge during the run-up to the presidential runoff served to solidify his western lackey image when he could have chosen any of the African embassy's he passed on the way to the Royal Netherlands Embassy. All this served to underline Tsvangirai's paucity of judgement.
Be that as it may, Tsvangirai did well by dropping Bennett. The MDC-T had made Bennett a major outstanding GPA issue, now that he is off the list; I hope the MDC-T leaderships' focus goes to the real outstanding issues. Chief among them western meddling in our internal affairs, the pirate radio broadcasts and the ruinous economic sanctions all of which westerners instituted to try to abet the MDC cause.
MDC-T leaders, who always cry foul over alleged failure to implement the GPA, can do their part by joining the anti-sanctions lobby. Euphemisms do not serve any purpose, we do not have ‘‘restrictive measures'' but ruinous, illegal, unjustified economic sanctions that, in the words of former US assistant secretary of state for African affairs Chester Crocker, were imposed in a bid to make the economy scream. And scream it did as innocent people wailed.
Lives were lost, livelihoods were destroyed, dreams were shattered and pensions were wiped out. All these were great crimes against the innocent, prioritising the likes of Bennett over one's injured kith and kin is the stuff of drunks.
Lets hope henceforth, Tsvangirai will stop asking the likes of Charles Ray which is the other side of the street.
Whenever you see the likes of Roy Bennett on it, Mr Tsvangirai, it is the other side, go back to the right side. |
